Close Reading

“Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death

The memory be green, and that it us befitted

To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom

To be contracted in one brow of woe,

Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature

That we with wisest sorrow think on him

Together with remembrance of ourselves.

Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,

Th' imperial jointress to this warlike state,

Have we—as ’twere with a defeated joy,

With an auspicious and a dropping eye,

With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,

In equal scale weighing delight and dole—

Taken to wife. Nor have we herein barred

Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone

With this affair along. For all, our thanks.”

(Shakespeare I.ii.1-16)

Analysis

There is no doubt that Shakespeare’s plays could be compared to soap operas today; poisonings, suicides, murders, affairs, faked deaths, and of course, romance. Shakespeare’s plays simply have a Elizabethan Era twist. An example of this is the King’s speech, which introduces King Claudius to the play. After reading the play, the audience knows that the King poisoned his brother, took his throne, and married his wife approximately one month after he died. In the King’s speech, he exemplifies the arrogance and  narcissism even further so than his previous actions. By analyzing his words, we can look into how Shakespeare meant to draw out his character, and the King’s motives.

The King’s speech starts out with the lines, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death/The memory be green” (I.ii.1-2). The readers can already assume that Claudius is being snide is the way he speaks because they know that he actually killed his brother; why would he mourn a loss that he caused himself? Furthermore, from the metaphor “green” meaning fresh, it is obvious that Shakespeare is emphasizing that the death happened merely a month ago. The next lines read “and that it us befitted/To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom/To be contracted in one brow of woe,” tell the audience that Claudius truly wants the kingdom to believe his scheme. By using the metaphor “contracted on one brow of woe” Shakespeare shows the sarcasm in Claudius’ speech. Altogether, this passage portrays the malice of Claudius’ actions.

The lines that follow are, ”Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature/That we with wisest sorrow think on him/Together with remembrance of ourselves”(5-7). The meaning of this is that while it is natural to grieve, those who are wise will start thinking about themselves and stop mourning because that time is over.  The words “wisest sorrow” almost makes it sound like Claudius is guilting the kingdom into not feeling grief. The whole passage shows the ignorance of the King Claudius and his desire to move forward, and for the kingdom to forget that the death of King Hamlet ever happened, which is very suspicious of King Claudius.

The King’s departing words read, “Nor have we herein barred/Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone/With this affair along. For all, our thanks” (14-16).  As if the rest of his speech was not biting enough, this just tops it off. The King was obviously not asking the kingdom of their opinions all along, and it would be impossible to know if the entirety of Denmark agreed with his decisions. Ending with the word “thanks” shows how pompous and omnipotent Shakespeare wanted to write Claudius to see himself as, because he would not actually thank the kingdom for allowing him to marry his dead brother’s widow.